The Congress on Friday alleged Prime Minister Narendra Modi continues to follow his childhood habit of telling lies, as he (Modi) has claimed that the Karnataka Government was arresting indebted farmers.
While talking to media persons here on Friday, Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said that it hurts when a person holding the prime minister's post lies. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a bad habit of speaking lies. It seems he is not able to get rid of his childhood habit," he said, when asked about Modi's allegation.
The prime minister, addressing campaign rallies in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, had pooh-poohed Congress chief Rahul Gandhi's promise of farm loan waiver in the two states. He claimed the party had made the same promise during the Karnataka polls but did not fulfill it.
The coalition government consisting of Congress in Karnataka was, instead, issuing warrants and arresting farmers for defaulting on loan repayments, the prime minister alleged.
Surjewala asked about the loan waiver that was announced by the BJP-led government in Maharashtra.
"About 50,000 farmers marched to Mumbai asking the Devendra Fadnavis government what happened to loan waiver promise.
The implementation of loan waiver in Punjab and Karnataka (where the Congress is in power) has set an example. The PM should visit these areas," Surjewala said.
He alleged the Modi-led government had written off loans worth Rs 2.63 lakh crore of industrialists but had refused relief to indebted farmers.
The Congress spokesperson also accused the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh of misleading people on the investment attracted by the State from 2007 to 2016.